Filing-cabinet



H. L. DE LISLE. FILING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED Aft-29. 1920.

Patented June 21, 1921.

PATENT orrics.

HAROLD L. DE LISLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FILING-CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

Application filed April 29, 1920. Serial No. 377,509.

To all w 7mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, AnoLnL. DE LIsLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements n Filing-Cabinets, of whichthe following 1s a specification.

My invention relates chiefly to cablnets suitable for filing sheet-like parts whlch it is desired to preserve in flat form. In the particular adaptation thereof illustrated 1t relates to the filing of blue prints and the like in one compartment and for holding rolls of unused paper, tracing cloth, etc., in another compartment, all for convenient use.

Its chief object is to provide a cabinet device in which blue prints or other sheets may be filed in flat form and be protected from injur while being readily accessible for use as desired; a cabinet device having relatively large capacity while being relatively narrow in its outstanding direction; one 1n which all of the blue prints or similar papers relating to the same job or piece of work, wlthm reasonable limits, may be filed and readily removed as a unit one in which the collapsing of the sheet-supporting parts into a smaller compass within the cabinet 1s faclhtated by special means for forclng the down hanging sheets into the cabinet; and one which is of simple construction and easily operated.

It is an object also to prov de 1n cOn unction with the blue print cabinet proper an auxiliary cabinet or chamber, part of the same device, for holding other utilities of the engineer, such as rolls of drawing paper, tracing cloth, etc.

Other objects and advantagesw ll appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification Figure 1 1s a face view of the cabinet with the main doors open and broken away; Fig. 2 1s a medial vertical section through the device of Fig. 1 and at right angles thereto; Fig.

3 is an enlarged sectionalfragm entary view capacity in a cabinet of given height and width; the provision for greater length of sheets in a cabinet of a given height; the provision for a more easy, comfortable and advantageous method of operation; the provision of greater facility in referring to the filed sheets; and the provision of the auxiliary cabinet.

The cabinet illustrated includes a rear wall 5, side walls 6, a narrow fixed top wall 7, a top upwardly swinging wall 8 hinged at 9 to a similar top wall 10 hinged at 11, a bottom wall 12, two hinged doors 15 which meet at the middle of the cabinet in front, an intermediate horizontalWalllG, an upwardly slanting wall 1'7, the walls 8, 10, 16 and 17 substantially defining a relatively small upper compartment 18 closed in front by wall parts 14 and by a swinging hinged door 19, the main front doors 15 lying upon and covering the door 19, thus'locking the door 19 when the doors 1 5 are closed and locked.

Within the small compartment 18 I provide a pair of spaced-apart notched supports 20 adapted to accommodate rotatably the if mandrel 21 on whichthere is wound drawmg paper or the like 22. The compartment 18 also contains a plurality of spaced-apart transverse strips 23 upon and partly bee tween the adjacent of which may rest rolls 24 of tracing cloth, tracing paper" or the like. The free ends of the material of the rolls 22 and 24 eXtend downwardly and forwardly from the rolls respectively so as to be graspable by hand, and when it is desired to use some of this material it may be drawn out by hand to the desired length, the door 19 closed down upon it, the bottom edge'of the'door acting as a clamp and straightedge, against which the paper may be torn off in a straight line or it may be cut off by means of a blade. The rolls 22 and 24 may be inserted and removed bodily through the opening covered by the top doors 8 and 10.

The main and relatively large compartment 25 of the cabinet contains in its upper, rear portion, infixed relation to the cabinet, a pair of spaced-apart parallel, vertically disposed guideand supporting-rods 27, the same extending into holes in the top wall 12 and their bottom ends respectively entering and being fixedly supported by blocks or brackets 28 rigidly secured to the rear wall 5.

In my practice these rods 27 are, made of ,g 1

round iron,

I provide also a substantially rectangular frame 29 for holding removable cross rods. This frame includes two oppositely disposed and parallel members 30 provided on their inner or facing sides with a plurality of downwardly extending notches 31, the notches extending only partially through the side members 30 as shown whereby an outer wall is'provided there acting as a stop for the sheet-holding rods to prevent their moving in their longitudinal directions when positioned operatively in the notches 31. These side frame members 30 may well be of wood and are so shown. The side frame parts 30 are connected at their outer and inner extremities by cross pieces 32 and 32 At their inner extremities they are provided with iron brackets 33, one extension of which is secured rigidly to the lower surface of the side frames 31. The extension 33 of each bracket 33 contains a slotlike or oblong hole 34: through which passes the rod 27, the frame being thereby positively looked upon the fixed rods 27, but being slidably movable thereon in up-and-' down directions and at the same time the oblong shape of the holes 34 permits of the frames tiltin or swinging as though hinged upon t e rods 27, which tilting or swinging may occur at any place on the rods 27 where the bracket extensions 33 may be.

I provide also a pair of oppositely disposed supports or struts 36 hinged at 37 to the side frames 30 respectively and at 38 hinged to a wooden support 39 secured upon the lower fixed front wall 40 of the cabinet.

ends terminate just short-of the inner faces of the side frames 30 when these clamping rods are in operative position in the frame, the weight of the down-hanging sheets of paper beingcarried by'thestrip 42, thus saving-space in the width of the notches. For clamping the stripsl-Q and 43 together I provide a plurality of thumb screws a5, the screws being threaded into a nut member 4:6,rigidly securedin the body of the strips or rods 42. The sheets of paperto be filed are punched with holes so that they will slip upon the screws 45, and the screws are thereupon threaded into the nut members 4E6 clamping thesheets betweenthe two strips. In the great majority of cases all of the blue prints or the like pertaining to a given job or piece of workmay be secured upon one of these holding rods, and when it is desired to refer to the same all of them can be removed from the frame as a unit and consulted without removing them from the paper-holding rod comprised by the strips the drawings, in which position the frame extends somewhat downwardly. but for the most part outwardly and is in convenient position for reference to the various paperholding rods, all parts of the frame being at a convenient height and at a convenient angle. It may be pointed out that the rods 42 may have on their top surfaces respectively not only serial numbers or letters, but also considerable additional written index matter which may be pasted upon the top surface of the strips respectively, which matter may be carried also in an index book so that the desired lot of prints may be readily picked out. I v

Vvhen it is desired to collapse the holding members to get the frame within the cabinet, a lifting force with the hands may be exerted between the hinge 37 and the bracket 33, or a downward pressure may be exerted between the hinge 37 and the outer cross piece 32, the brackets 33 in either event be ing caused to slideupward on the rods 27, whereupon'the side frame parts 30 and the supports 36 take their dotted line positions.

shown in Fig. 2, in which position the support 36 constitutes means for preventing the frame parts 30 from moving farther toward the rear wall 10. In this collapsed position it will be noted that the side frames 30 extendupward substantially close to the top of the cabinet, and space is thus provided for blue prints of unusual length to hang straight downward while theire is material height at the front of the cabinet between the outer notches and the bottom for blue prints of medium length. Furthermore, since the frameparts 30 still extend downs wardly and forwardly although they are now in a much more upright position, all of the papers carried by the removable cross rods hang freely, without undue crowding and without strain or pressure upon them or upon the holding parts, even though each of the paper-holding rods contains a considerable number of blue prints or the like.

, In order to facilitate the conveyance into from swinging on its hinges toward the cab: inet While permitting it to swing outwardly or away from the cabinet, the bail being hinged so that it will lie in a recess 53 in the sideframes respectively when lying in the same direction as the side frames. A coiled tension spring 54: is provided to draw the bail toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2 and this spring also lies in the recess 53 in one of its positions.

The effect of the bail 50 is to press upon down-hanging sheets adjacent'to it during the collapsing operation through the tension of the spring 53, thereby forcing the lower free end portions of the sheets through the door opening and into the cabinet. The bail 5O finally takes the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2.

Vhile I have illustrated and described a highly advantageous construction and arrangement of parts embodying my present invention, l contemplate as being within the scope of these improvements such various changes, modifications and departures from what is specifically set forth, as are indicated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a collapsible filing device of the class described, the combination of walls forming a cabinet having a front opening, a pair of spaced-apart guides in fixed substantially vertical position substantially parallel to each other in the upper rear portion of the cabinet, an open frame having means at the sides thereof for holding filing rods, filing rods held by the frame, means for holding the frame slidably and tiltably upon the guides whereby the frame may move in the longitudinal directions of the guides and also swing outwardly thereupon so as to extend in a forward direction away from the guides in one position of the frame and to extend downwardly and forwardly at an angle adapted to provide material space throughout the forward length of the frame for down-hanging sheets between the vertical planes of the rod-like supports and the front end of the frame, the front end of the frame being within the cabinet in said lastmentioned position, and means for holding the frame in its last-mentioned position.

2. In a filing device of the class described, the combination of walls forming a cabinet having a front opening, an open frame having a pair of side members extending to the rear and upper portion of the cabinet, means on the side members for holding filing rods, filing rods held by the frame, interengaging means partly carried by the cabinet in the upper rear portion thereof and partly carried by the frame for supporting the frame bodily slidable in upand-down directions and also swingingly whereby the frame may extend forwardly in one position and lie in a downwardly and forwardly extending position within the cabinet in another position so as to provide material space for holding down-hanging sheetsefrom front to rear end of the frame, and means for holding the frame in each of said positions.

3. The combination of a filing frame of the character described adapted to hold down-hanging sheets and mounted to swing from a forwardly extending position into a more upright position, and a down-hanging springpressed member movably mounted on the frame for pressing upon such clownhanging sheets to force their free end portions in the general direction of movement of the frame in assuming its more upright position.

HAROLD L. DE LISLE. 

